MADISON - Over 2.5 million Wisconsinites rely on Medicare and Medicaid, but that hasn’t stopped Ron Johnson from trying to cut these vital programs to pay for handouts for giant corporations at the expense of Wisconsin seniors and families, including children.

Johnson has voted three times to end Medicare as we know it, gutting funding, driving up out of pocket costs for seniors, and raising the eligibility age. In addition, Johnson has tried to rip away health care coverage from Wisconsin seniors, children, and disabled individuals by cutting Medicaid. Most recently in what was one of his most callous votes yet, Johnson voted against allowing Medicaid to cover the COVID-19 vaccine, prevention, and treatment, as well as against funding that would allow seniors to receive quality care in their community, not just nursing homes.

Check out a snapshot of Johnson’s dangerous anti Medicare & Medicaid record below:

• Over 1,193,000 Wisconsinites receive Medicare, while another 1,353,000, including children, receive Medicaid.
• Johnson voted multiple times to end Medicare as we know it, which the CBO found would greatly drive up out of pocket costs for senior Wisconsinites.
  • The legislation would also raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.
• Johnson also voted against expanding Medicare coverage for Wisconsinites.
• But Johnson didn’t stop at just trying to rip Medicare coverage away from older Wisconsinites -- he also voted against protecting existing coverage.
• Johnson was all too giddy that Wisconsin didn’t expand Medicaid coverage like the majority of other states.
  • Johnson went so far as to try and kill Medicaid expansion in other states.

Oshkosh legislator calls on GOP legislators to set politics aside, approve $550 Million for public education.

MADISON - Monday, Gov. Tony Evers announced he is calling a special session of the Wisconsin State Legislature to invest an additional $550 million into public education in Wisconsin, including $440 million for Wisconsin’s K-12 schools and $110 million for the UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System. Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement:

“I applaud Governor Evers for calling for this special session and urging the state legislature to invest an additional $550 million into public education in Wisconsin. It is entirely thanks to Gov. Evers’ partial vetoes that our state has this additional funding to provide critically important resources to our public schools as they continue supporting and educating our kids and adjusting to a new normal. Particularly given the fact that legislative Republicans allowed only 20% as much for new classroom funding in the 21-23 budget compared to what they included in former Governor Walker’s last budget, Assembly Democrats are proud to support Gov. Evers’ call to action and invest more funding in our K-12 public schools and higher education institutions.

“It is telling that, at the exact moment Gov. Evers is urging the Republican-controlled state legislature to put the future of Wisconsin kids ahead of partisan politics, Assembly Republicans are poised to continue their pattern of playing political games, this time with a veto-override attempt they know will fail. These political games are exceedingly unfortunate, because they do a disservice to the people of Wisconsin, who have real needs and expect serious action from their elected leaders, and because they are a waste of precious time as our state works to recover from the pandemic.

“I urge my Republican colleagues to join legislative Democrats and Governor Evers in doing what they should have done in the first place, which is ensuring our schools have the resources they need coming out of the pandemic. School districts across Wisconsin have told us loud and clear that they need more funding to meet the needs of our kids and to avoid cuts and layoffs in the next two years. Now is not the time for political games. Now is the time for real leadership.”